REGGAE AND HIP-HOP THRIVES WITH D.A.S. AUDIO

Newark, NJ – November 2009… The recent 9th Annual New Jersey International Music Festival, which featured a dream team of international reggae and hip-hop stars, including “Mr. Throw it in the Bag” Fabolous, the “King of Dance Hall” Beenie Man, Buju Banton, and Rick Ross among others, presented a unique set of challenges for the performers and technical staff tasked with making it all happen. Held September 20th, 2009 at the Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium, the on stage real estate proved to be in rather short supply. As a result, erecting a sound system capable of providing consistent coverage with solid SPL performance to the roughly 5,000 music enthusiasts in attendance was no small undertaking. Ultimately, the challenges of the job were resolved with a sound system featuring Aero Series 2 line arrays from D.A.S. Audio.

North Valley Stream, NY-based Advanced Audio, which specializes in the installation and rentals of pro audio, video, lighting, staging, and special effects for small events, tours, festivals, corporate, and church functions, was contracted to provide sound for this year's festival. Burton A. Ishmael, owner and chief sound designer for Advanced Audio, discussed the intricacies of the project.

“The stage—at 32 feet by 24 feet— was very small,” explained Ishmael, “and this necessitated that the area be kept clear to provide adequate room for the back line, stage monitors, and performers. Everything else— monitor world, amp racks, and other equipment—had to be off the stage. The sound wings were also used as performance space and, thus, did not allow a normal hang of the arrays. We erected two side wings for this purpose, but with the confined space and weight limits, a compact, powered line array system made the best solution. This enabled us to avoid the weight of a bigger array and the bulk of amp racks, which we would have had to store somewhere else, and focus on using more boxes to properly cover the audience areas.”

Ishmael's solution was to utilize a sound system based around D.A.S. Audio's Aero Series 2 line arrays. The Advanced Audio crew flew 28 Aero 12A line arrays in a left-right configuration—14 cabinets per side. The Aero 12A is a compact, powered loudspeaker system that utilizes a 12-inch transducer for low frequencies and a Neodymium compression driver with a 1.5-inch exit for the high frequencies. For side fills, six D.A.S. Audio Aero CA-28A powered line arrays were positioned three per side. Additionally, the Advanced Audio crew used another three Aero CA-28A's for the drum fill. Low frequency support was provided by twenty-four proprietary branded subwoofers distributed across the front of the stage area.

Ishmael proudly reports that Advanced Audio is among the first sound companies on the United States' Eastern Seaboard to take delivery of the recently introduced Aero 12A line arrays. “This is one of D.A.S. Audio's latest products,” notes Ishmael, “and I believe they've got a winner on their hands. These loudspeakers sound great right out of the box. By having the power amplifier integrated into the enclosure, we were able to eliminate bulky amp racks, the real estate they require, and the weight associated with them. This also simplified and improved the setup on this job because we were able to use more boxes and have a tight, neatly controlled dispersion pattern all the way to the back of the audience. Because the audience seating went back far and high, if we had we used fewer, larger enclosures, the spread between boxes would have created a radical line that would have resulted in less even vertical dispersion.”

When asked what factors led to his decision to embrace D.A.S. Audio, Ishmael responded with a very favorable assessment of the company's customer and technical support services. “The folks in the Miami office have been great to deal with,” Ishmael says. “They are always extremely responsive to our questions and really take a personal interest in ensuring our success. I fully expect to have a long and profitable business relationship with D.A.S.”

Now that the 9th Annual New Jersey International Music Festival is past, Ishmael commented on the success of the endeavor. “The equipment worked exactly as expected and everyone was really pleased with the sound,” notes Ishmael. “The performers, the audience, and the event's sponsors were all extremely complimentary. Best of all, stadium management was very happy and it appears that we will be providing sound services for a number of future events they have planned. When one job leads to another, that's the ultimate compliment!”

For additional information about Advanced Audio, visit the company online at www.advancaudio.com.

About D.A.S. Audio

Headquartered in Valencia, Spain, D.A.S. Audio is one of the world's leading manufacturers of loudspeaker systems, power amplification, signal processing, and related components. For better than thirty years, D.A.S. Audio products have been found on tour with the world's greatest performing artists and installed in many of the most prestigious facilities. For additional information about the company, visit them online at www.dasaudio.com.